Government
92-422: Čestmír Loukotka (12 November 1895 – 13 April 1966) was a Czechoslovak linguist and ethnologist . His daughter was Jarmila Loukotková . Loukotka proposed a classification for the languages of South America based on several previous works. This classification contained many unpublished materials and therefore greatly improved upon previous classifications. He divided the languages of South America and
184-494: A parliamentary republic . On 17 November 1989 ( International Students' Day ), riot police suppressed a student demonstration in Prague . The event marked the 50th anniversary of a violently suppressed demonstration against the Nazi storming of Prague University in 1939 where 1,200 students were arrested and 9 killed (see Origin of International Students' Day ). The 1989 event sparked
276-650: A Czech entrepreneur and visionary, outlined his ideas in the publication "Budujme stát pro 40 milionů lidí", where he described the future motorway system. Construction of the first motorways in Czechoslovakia begun in 1939, nevertheless, they were stopped after German occupation during World War II . Velvet Revolution [REDACTED] Opposition Supported by: [REDACTED] United States Hardliners: Moderates: Dissident leaders: The Velvet Revolution ( Czech : Sametová revoluce ) or Gentle Revolution ( Slovak : Nežná revolúcia )
368-524: A ban on professional employment, the refusal of higher education for the dissidents' children, police harassment and prison. During the 1980s, Czechoslovakia became one of the most tightly controlled Communist regimes in the Warsaw Pact in resistance to the mitigation of controls notified by Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev . In 1989, the Velvet Revolution restored democracy. This occurred around
460-611: A chance for many of their compatriots to participate in communal life before independence. Palacký supported Austro-Slavism and worked for a reorganized federal Austrian Empire , which would protect the Slavic speaking peoples of Central Europe against Russian and German threats. An advocate of democratic reform and Czech autonomy within Austria-Hungary, Masaryk was elected twice to the Reichsrat (Austrian Parliament), from 1891 to 1893 for
552-642: A civic initiative met with the Prime Minister, who told them he was twice prohibited from resigning his post and that change requires mass demonstrations like those in East Germany (some 250,000 students). He asked them to keep the number of "casualties" during the expected change to a minimum. About 500 Slovak artists, scientists and leaders met at the Art Forum (Umelecká beseda) in Bratislava at 17:00. They denounced
644-460: A limited basis as only allowed NGOs) and published home-made periodicals ( samizdat ). Charter 77 was quashed by the government and its signed members were persecuted until the fall of the regime in Czechoslovakia. Later, with the advent of the Civic Forum, independence could truly be seen on the horizon. Until Independence Day on 17 November 1989, the populace faced persecution by the authorities from
736-463: A major factor in the 1980s. Slightly after the foundation of Czechoslovakia in 1918, there was a lack of essential infrastructure in many areas – paved roads , railways , bridges , etc. Massive improvement in the following years enabled Czechoslovakia to develop its industry. Prague 's civil airport in Ruzyně became one of the most modern terminals in the world when it was finished in 1937. Tomáš Baťa ,
828-501: A mass demonstration on 17 November to commemorate International Students Day and the fiftieth anniversary of the murder of student Jan Opletal by the Nazi government. Most members of SSM were privately opposed to the Communist leadership, but were afraid of speaking up for fear of persecution. This demonstration gave average students an opportunity to join others and express their opinions. By 16:00 (4:00 pm), about 15,000 people joined
920-488: A more moderate Communist, was named General Secretary. Federal Television showed pictures from 17 November for the first time and presented the first television address of Václav Havel, dealing mostly with the planned general strike. Czechoslovak TV and Radio announced that they would join the general strike. A discussion with representatives of the opposition was broadcast by the Slovak section of Federal Television. The opposition
1012-565: A paramilitary organisation subordinated directly to the Communist Party) to Prague to crush the protests, but called them off. Civic Forum announced a two-hour general strike for Monday, 27 November. The first live reports from the demonstration in Wenceslas Square appeared on Federal Television (and were quickly cut off, after one of the participants denounced the present government in favour of Alexander Dubček). Striking students forced
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#17330861284141104-664: A petition that circulated in the summer of 1989 calling for the end of censorship and the beginning of fundamental political reform. The immediate impetus for the revolution came from developments in neighbouring countries and in the Czechoslovak capital. From August, East German citizens had occupied the West German Embassy in Prague and demanded exile to West Germany . In the days following 3 November, thousands of East Germans left Prague by train to West Germany. On 9 November,
1196-501: A political monopoly was held by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ). The leader of the KSČ was de facto the most powerful person in the country during this period. Gustáv Husák was elected first secretary of the KSČ in 1969 (changed to general secretary in 1971) and president of Czechoslovakia in 1975. Other parties and organizations existed but functioned in subordinate roles to
1288-545: A proclamation by the students and artists to the audience, calling for a general strike on 27 November. Home-made posters and proclamations were posted. As all media (radio, TV, newspapers) were strictly controlled by the Communist Party (see Mass media in Communist Czechoslovakia ), this was the only way to spread the message. In the evening, Radio Free Europe reported that a student (named as Martin Šmíd )
1380-466: A return to the city's normal business. An interview with Martin Šmíd was broadcast to persuade the public that nobody had been killed, but the quality of the recording was low and rumours continued. It would take several more days to confirm that nobody was killed, and by then the revolution had gained further momentum. The leaders of the Democratic Initiative presented several demands, including
1472-437: A series of demonstrations from 17 November to late December and turned into an anti-communist demonstration. On 20 November, the number of protesters assembled in Prague grew from 200,000 the previous day to an estimated 500,000. The entire top leadership of the Communist Party, including General Secretary Miloš Jakeš , resigned on 24 November. On 27 November, a two-hour general strike involving all citizens of Czechoslovakia
1564-580: A threat to German rule. Just like Jews, Poles, Serbs, and several other nations, Czechs were considered to be untermenschen by the Nazi state. In 1940, in a secret Nazi plan for the Germanization of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia it was declared that those considered to be of racially Mongoloid origin and the Czech intelligentsia were not to be Germanized. The deportation of Jews to concentration camps
1656-760: A unified Czechoslovakia was restored after World War II (after the country had been divided during the war), the conflict between the Czechs and the Slovaks surfaced again. The governments of Czechoslovakia and other Central European nations deported ethnic Germans, reducing the presence of minorities in the nation. Most of the Jews had been killed during the war by the Nazis. Ethnicities of Czechoslovakia in 1921 Ethnicities of Czechoslovakia in 1930 *Jews identified themselves as Germans or Hungarians (and Jews only by religion not ethnicity),
1748-467: The Berlin Wall fell, removing the need for the detour. By 16 November, many of Czechoslovakia's neighbours were beginning to shed authoritarian rule. The citizens of Czechoslovakia watched these events on TV through both foreign and domestic channels. The Soviet Union also supported a change in the ruling elite of Czechoslovakia, although it did not anticipate the overthrow of the Communist regime. On
1840-614: The Civic Forum (Občanské fórum, an equivalent of the Slovak Public Against Violence for the territory of the Czech Republic) as a mass popular movement for reforms. They called for the dismissal of top officials responsible for the violence, and an independent investigation of the incident and the release of all political prisoners . College students went on strike. On television, government officials called for peace and
1932-538: The Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic . The dissolution of Czechoslovakia occurred mainly due to national governance issues between the Slovaks and Czechs (the two major ethnicities comprising the former Czechoslovakia). The Communist Party seized power on 25 February 1948. No official opposition parties operated thereafter. Dissidents (notably Charter 77 and Civic Forum ) created Music Clubs (on
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#17330861284142024-699: The Danube River basin. The weather is mild winters and mild summers. Influenced by the Atlantic Ocean from the west, the Baltic Sea from the north, and Mediterranean Sea from the south. There is no continental weather. The area was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until it collapsed at the end of World War I . The new state was founded by Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk , who served as its first president from 14 November 1918 to 14 December 1935. He
2116-584: The NSDAP in the December 1938 elections. Almost every decree explicitly stated that the sanctions did not apply to antifascists. Some 250,000 Germans, many married to Czechs, some antifascists, and also those required for the post-war reconstruction of the country, remained in Czechoslovakia. The Beneš Decrees still cause controversy among nationalist groups in the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria and Hungary. Following
2208-685: The Sudetenland . On 29 September 1938, Britain and France ceded control in the Appeasement at the Munich Conference ; France ignored the military alliance it had with Czechoslovakia. During October 1938, Nazi Germany occupied the Sudetenland border region, effectively crippling Czechoslovak defences. The First Vienna Award assigned a strip of southern Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia to Hungary. Poland occupied Zaolzie, an area whose population
2300-584: The Warsaw Pact of 1955. A period of political liberalization in 1968, the Prague Spring , ended when the Soviet Union, assisted by other Warsaw Pact countries, invaded Czechoslovakia . In 1989, as Marxist–Leninist governments and communism were ending all over Central and Eastern Europe , Czechoslovaks peacefully deposed their communist government during the Velvet Revolution , which began on 17 November 1989 and ended 11 days later on 28 November when all of
2392-749: The Young Czech Party , and from 1907 to 1914 for the Czech Realist Party , which he had founded in 1889 with Karel Kramář and Josef Kaizl . During World War I a number of Czechs and Slovaks, the Czechoslovak Legions , fought with the Allies in France and Italy, while large numbers deserted to Russia in exchange for its support for the independence of Czechoslovakia from the Austrian Empire. With
2484-652: The autonomous regions of Slovakia and Subcarpathian Ruthenia. Annexed by Hungary (1939–1945). ČSR; declared a "people's democracy" (without a formal name change) under the Ninth-of-May Constitution following the 1948 coup . ČSSR; from 1969, after the Prague Spring , consisted of the Czech Socialist Republic (ČSR) and Slovak Socialist Republic (SSR). Oblast of the Ukrainian SSR . Oblast of Ukraine . After World War II,
2576-565: The border with West Germany and Austria in early December. On 10 December, President Gustáv Husák appointed the first largely non- communist government in Czechoslovakia since 1948, and resigned. Alexander Dubček was elected speaker of the federal parliament on 28 December and Václav Havel the President of Czechoslovakia on 29 December 1989. In June 1990, Czechoslovakia held its first democratic elections since 1946 . On 31 December 1992, Czechoslovakia peacefully split into two countries ,
2668-881: The 1946 parliamentary election, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia was the winner in the Czech lands , and the Democratic Party won in Slovakia. In February 1948 the Communists seized power . Although they would maintain the fiction of political pluralism through the existence of the National Front , except for a short period in the late 1960s (the Prague Spring ) the country had no liberal democracy . Since citizens lacked significant electoral methods of registering protest against government policies, periodically there were street protests that became violent. For example, there were riots in
2760-571: The Bohemian lands, declared his support for the students and issued a declaration criticising the current government's policies. For the first time during the Velvet Revolution, the "radical" demand to abolish the article of the Constitution establishing the "leading role" of the Communist Party was expressed by Ľubomír Feldek at a meeting of Public Against Violence. In the evening, Miloš Jakeš ,
2852-797: The Caribbean into 77 different families, based upon similarities of vocabulary and available lists. His classification of 1968 is the most influential and was based upon two previous schemes (1935, 1944), which were similar to those proposed by Paul Rivet (whom he was a student of), although the number of families was increased to 94 and 114. This article on a Czech linguist is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( / ˌ tʃ ɛ k oʊ s l oʊ ˈ v æ k i . ə , ˈ tʃ ɛ k ə -, - s l ə -, - ˈ v ɑː -/ CHEK -oh-sloh- VAK -ee-ə, CHEK -ə-, -slə-, - VAH - ; Czech and Slovak : Československo , Česko-Slovensko )
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2944-602: The Czech intelligentsia; the intellectual elites and middle class made up a considerable number of the 200,000 people who passed through concentration camps and the 250,000 who died during German occupation. Under Generalplan Ost , it was assumed that around 50% of Czechs would be fit for Germanization . The Czech intellectual elites were to be removed not only from Czech territories but from Europe completely. The authors of Generalplan Ost believed it would be best if they emigrated overseas, as even in Siberia they were considered
3036-616: The Czechs of the Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia, German occupation was a period of brutal oppression. Czech losses resulting from political persecution and deaths in concentration camps totaled between 36,000 and 55,000. The Jewish populations of Bohemia and Moravia (118,000 according to the 1930 census) were virtually annihilated. Many Jews emigrated after 1939; more than 70,000 were killed; 8,000 survived at Terezín. Several thousand Jews managed to live in freedom or in hiding throughout
3128-528: The German war effort was accelerated. Under the authority of Karl Hermann Frank , German minister of state for Bohemia and Moravia, some 350,000 Czech laborers were dispatched to the Reich. Within the protectorate, all non-war-related industry was prohibited. Most of the Czech population obeyed quiescently up until the final months preceding the end of the war, while thousands were involved in the resistance movement . For
3220-515: The Gulf War with a small force of 200 troops under the command of the U.S.-led coalition. In 1992, because of growing nationalist tensions in the government, Czechoslovakia was peacefully dissolved by parliament. On 31 December 1992, it formally separated into two independent countries, the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic . ČSR; boundaries and government established by the 1920 constitution . Annexed by Nazi Germany . ČSR; included
3312-800: The KSČ. All political parties, as well as numerous mass organizations, were grouped under umbrella of the National Front . Human rights activists and religious activists were severely repressed. Czechoslovakia had the following constitutions during its history (1918–1992): In the 1930s, the nation formed a military alliance with France, which collapsed in the Munich Agreement of 1938. After World War II , an active participant in Council for Mutual Economic Assistance ( Comecon ), Warsaw Pact , United Nations and its specialized agencies; signatory of conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe . Before World War II,
3404-719: The Prague Communist Secretary. The military informed the Communist leadership of its readiness to act (ultimately, it was never used against demonstrators). The military and the Ministry of Defense were preparing for actions against the opposition. Immediately after the meeting, however, the Minister of Defence delivered a TV address announcing that the army would never undertake action against the people and called for an end to demonstrations. The entire Presidium, including General Secretary Miloš Jakeš , resigned, and Karel Urbánek ,
3496-536: The Realistic Theatre was declared and other theatres quickly followed. The theaters opened their stages only for public discussions. At the initiative of students from the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague , the students in Prague went on strike. This strike was joined by university students throughout Czechoslovakia. Theatre employees and actors in Prague supported the strike. Instead of going on stage, actors read
3588-590: The Slovaks, who were hostile to the more numerous Czechs, weakened the country in the late 1930s. Slovakia became autonomous in the fall of 1938, and by mid-1939, Slovakia had become independent, with the First Slovak Republic set up as a satellite state of Nazi Germany and the far-right Slovak People's Party in power . After 1933, Czechoslovakia remained the only democracy in central and eastern Europe. In September 1938, Adolf Hitler demanded control of
3680-502: The Soviet Union, gradually put the brakes on their earlier liberal policies. Meanwhile, one plank of the reform program had been carried out: in 1968–69, Czechoslovakia was turned into a federation of the Czech Socialist Republic and Slovak Socialist Republic . The theory was that under the federation, social and economic inequities between the Czech and Slovak halves of the state would be largely eliminated. A number of ministries, such as education, now became two formally equal bodies in
3772-524: The West, having supported Alexander Dubček during the Prague Spring , opposing Soviet military occupation , promoting religion, boycotting (rigged) parliamentary elections or signing Charter 77 or associating with those who did. These rules were easy to enforce, as all schools, media and businesses belonged to the state. They were under direct supervision and often were used as accusatory weapons against rivals. The nature of blacklisting changed gradually after
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3864-423: The attack against the students in Prague on 17 November and formed Public Against Violence , which would become the leading force behind the opposition movement in Slovakia. Its founding members included Milan Kňažko , Ján Budaj and others. Actors and members of the audience in a Prague theatre, together with Václav Havel and other prominent members of Charter 77 and other dissident organisations, established
3956-551: The chairman of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, gave a special address on Federal Television. He said that order must be preserved, that socialism was the only alternative for Czechoslovakia, and criticised protest groups. Government officials, especially the Head of the Communist Party Miloš Jakeš, kept their hard-line position. During the night, they had summoned 4,000 members of the " People's Militias " ( Lidové milice ,
4048-458: The demonstration. In the end, however, the students moved through the city peacefully and sent a delegation to the Slovak Ministry of Education to discuss their demands. New movements led by Václav Havel surfaced, invoking the idea of a united society where the state would politically restructure. The Socialist Youth Union (SSM/SZM, proxy of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia ) organised
4140-458: The demonstration. They walked (per the strategy of founders of Stuha movement, Jiří Dienstbier and Šimon Pánek ) to Karel Hynek Mácha 's grave at Vyšehrad Cemetery and – after the official end of the march – continued into the centre of Prague, carrying banners and chanting anti-Communist slogans. At about 19:30 (7:30pm), the demonstrators were stopped by a cordon of riot police at Národní Street. They blocked all escape routes and attacked
4232-495: The economy was about the fourth in all industrial countries in Europe. The state was based on strong economy, manufacturing cars ( Škoda , Tatra ), trams, aircraft ( Aero , Avia ), ships, ship engines ( Škoda ), cannons, shoes ( Baťa ), turbines, guns ( Zbrojovka Brno ). It was the industrial workshop for the Austro-Hungarian empire. The Slovak lands relied more heavily on agriculture than the Czech lands. After World War II,
4324-478: The economy was centrally planned, with command links controlled by the communist party, similarly to the Soviet Union . The large metallurgical industry was dependent on imports of iron and non-ferrous ores. After World War II, the country was short of energy, relying on imported crude oil and natural gas from the Soviet Union, domestic brown coal , and nuclear and hydroelectric energy . Energy constraints were
4416-534: The eve of International Students Day (the 50th anniversary of Sonderaktion Prag , the 1939 storming of Prague universities by the Nazis), Slovak high school and university students organised a peaceful demonstration in the centre of Bratislava . The Communist Party of Slovakia had expected trouble, and the mere fact that the demonstration was organised was viewed as a problem by the Party. Armed forces were put on alert before
4508-541: The expulsion of the ethnic German population from Czechoslovakia, parts of the former Sudetenland , especially around Krnov and the surrounding villages of the Jesenik mountain region in northeastern Czechoslovakia, were settled in 1949 by Communist refugees from Northern Greece who had left their homeland as a result of the Greek Civil War . These Greeks made up a large proportion of the town and region's population until
4600-495: The first demonstrations in Bratislava occurred. The first official meeting of the Civic Forum with the Prime Minister took place. The Prime Minister agreed to personally guarantee that no violence would be used against the people; however he would "protect socialism, about which no discussion is possible". An organised mass demonstration took place in Wenceslas Square in central Prague (demonstrations recurred there throughout
4692-563: The first signs of thawing relations began to appear between Communist Czechoslovakia and Israel , with meetings held on shared issues, including Jewish religious freedom, the memory of the Holocaust and ties of remaining Czechoslovak Jews with the Diaspora , including the strong Jewish community in the United States. Reform-minded attitudes were also reflected by the many individuals who signed
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#17330861284144784-399: The first time. The editorial staff of Slovakia's Pravda , the central newspaper of the Communist Party of Slovakia, joined the opposition. A successful two-hour general strike led by the civic movements strengthened what were at first a set of moderate demands into cries for a new government. The strike took place throughout the country between 12:00 and 14:00, supported by a reported 75% of
4876-458: The following days). Actors and students travelled to factories inside and outside Prague to gain support for their colleagues in other cities. A mass demonstration erupted in Hviezdoslav Square in downtown Bratislava (in the following days, it moved to the Square of the Slovak National Uprising). The students presented demands and asked the people to participate in the general strike planned for Monday, 27 November. A separate demonstration demanded
4968-434: The introduction of Mikhail Gorbachev 's policies of Glasnost (openness) and Perestroika (restructuring) in 1985. The Czechoslovak Communist leadership verbally supported Perestroika, but made few changes. Speaking about the Prague Spring of 1968 was taboo. The first anti-government demonstrations occurred in 1988 (the Candle Demonstration , for example) and 1989, but these were dispersed and participants were repressed by
5060-417: The late 1980s/early 1990s. Although defined as "Greeks", the Greek Communist community of Krnov and the Jeseniky region actually consisted of an ethnically diverse population, including Greek Macedonians , Macedonians , Vlachs , Pontic Greeks and Turkish speaking Urums or Caucasus Greeks . Carpathian Ruthenia (Podkarpatská Rus) was occupied by (and in June 1945 formally ceded to) the Soviet Union. In
5152-492: The most industrialized regions of the former Austria-Hungary. The new country was a multi-ethnic state, with Czechs and Slovaks as constituent peoples . The population consisted of Czechs (51%), Slovaks (16%), Germans (22%), Hungarians (5%) and Rusyns (4%). Many of the Germans, Hungarians, Ruthenians and Poles and some Slovaks, felt oppressed because the political elite did not generally allow political autonomy for minority ethnic groups. This policy led to unrest among
5244-428: The non-Czech population, particularly in German-speaking Sudetenland , which initially had proclaimed itself part of the Republic of German-Austria in accordance with the self-determination principle. The state proclaimed the official ideology that there were no separate Czech and Slovak nations, but only one nation of Czechoslovaks (see Czechoslovakism ), to the disagreement of Slovaks and other ethnic groups. Once
5336-428: The occupation. Despite the estimated 136,000 deaths at the hands of the Nazi regime, the population in the Reichsprotektorate saw a net increase during the war years of approximately 250,000 in line with an increased birth rate. On 6 May 1945, the third US Army of General Patton entered Plzeň from the south west. On 9 May 1945, Soviet Red Army troops entered Prague . After World War II, pre-war Czechoslovakia
5428-400: The occupations. In 1948, this provision was cancelled for the Hungarians, but only partially for the Germans. The government then confiscated the property of the Germans and expelled about 90% of the ethnic German population , over 2 million people. Those who remained were collectively accused of supporting the Nazis after the Munich Agreement , as 97.32% of Sudeten Germans had voted for
5520-473: The opposition. The new Communist leadership held a press conference, including Miroslav Štěpán while excluding Ladislav Adamec, but did not address the demands of the demonstrators. Later that day, Štěpán resigned as Prague Secretary. The number of participants in the regular anti-government demonstration in Prague-Letná reached an estimated 800,000 people. Demonstrations in Bratislava peaked at around 100,000 participants. Prime Minister Adamec met with Havel for
5612-408: The outbreak of World War I, Masaryk began working for Czech independence in a union with Slovakia. With Edvard Beneš and Milan Rastislav Štefánik , Masaryk visited several Western countries and won support from influential publicists. The Czechoslovak National Council was the main organization that advanced the claims for a Czechoslovak state. The Bohemian Kingdom ceased to exist in 1918 when it
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#17330861284145704-459: The police. By the late 1980s, discontent with living standards and economic inadequacy gave way to popular support for economic reform. Citizens began to challenge the system more openly. By 1989, citizens who had been complacent were willing to openly express their discontent with the regime. Numerous important figures as well as ordinary workers signed petitions in support of Václav Havel during his imprisonment in 1989. Already in early 1989,
5796-416: The population. The Ministry of Culture released anti-Communist literature for public checkouts in libraries, effectively ending decades of censorship . Civic Forum demonstrated its capacity to disrupt the political order and thereby establish itself as the legitimate voice of the nation in negotiations with the state. The civic movements mobilised support for the general strike. The Federal Assembly deleted
5888-474: The preservation of the Soviet, socialist system and vowed to intervene in any state that sought to replace Marxism-Leninism with capitalism . In the week after the invasion, there was a spontaneous campaign of civil resistance against the occupation. This resistance involved a wide range of acts of non-cooperation and defiance: this was followed by a period in which the Czechoslovak Communist Party leadership, having been forced in Moscow to make concessions to
5980-434: The prime architect of the Czechoslovak-Romanian-Yugoslav alliance (the " Little Entente ", 1921–38) directed against Hungarian attempts to reclaim lost areas. Beneš worked closely with France. Far more dangerous was the German element, which after 1933 became allied with the Nazis in Germany. Czech-Slovak relations came to be a central issue in Czechoslovak politics during the 1930s. The increasing feeling of inferiority among
6072-480: The provision in the constitution referring to the " leading role " of the Communist Party, officially ending Communist rule in Czechoslovakia. President Gustáv Husák swore in the first government in 41 years that was not dominated by the Communist Party. He resigned shortly afterward. The victory of the revolution was topped off by the election of rebel playwright and human rights activist Václav Havel as President of Czechoslovakia on 29 December 1989. The event
6164-501: The reformer Alexander Dubček was appointed to the key post of First Secretary of the Czechoslovak Communist Party, there was a brief period of liberalization known as the Prague Spring . In response, after failing to persuade the Czechoslovak leaders to change course, five other members of the Warsaw Pact invaded . Soviet tanks rolled into Czechoslovakia on the night of 20–21 August 1968. Soviet Communist Party General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev viewed this intervention as vital for
6256-415: The release of the political prisoner Ján Čarnogurský (later Prime Minister of Slovakia) in front of the Palace of Justice. Alexander Dubček addressed this demonstration – his first appearance during the Velvet Revolution. As a result, Čarnogurský was released on 23 November. Further demonstrations followed in all major cities of Czechoslovakia. Cardinal František Tomášek , the Roman Catholic primate of
6348-544: The representatives of the Slovak government and of the Communist Party of Slovakia to participate in a dialogue, in which the official representatives were immediately put on the defensive. Employees of the Slovak section of the Federal Television required the leaders of the Federal Television to provide true information on the events in the country; otherwise they would initiate a strike of TV employees. Uncensored live reports from demonstrations in Bratislava began. The evening news showed factory workers heckling Miroslav Štěpán ,
6440-427: The resignation of the government, effective 25 November, and the formation of a temporary government composed of non-compromised members of the current government. Students and theatres went on "permanent" strike. Police stopped a demonstration from continuing toward Prague Castle, which would have entered the striking theatres. Civic Forum representatives negotiated unofficially with Adamec without Havel, and Adamec
6532-417: The same time as the fall of communism in Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, East Germany and Poland. The word "socialist" was removed from the country's full name on 29 March 1990 and replaced by "federal". Pope John Paul II made a papal visit to Czechoslovakia on 21 April 1990, hailing it as a symbolic step of reviving Christianity in the newly-formed post-communist state. Czechoslovakia participated in
6624-509: The secret police. Thus, the general public did not openly support the dissidents for fear of dismissal from work or school. Writers or filmmakers could have their books or films banned for a "negative attitude towards the socialist regime". They also did not allow Czechs and Slovaks to travel to other non-communist countries. Following this they banned music from foreign countries. This blacklisting included children of former entrepreneurs or non-Communist politicians, having family members living in
6716-547: The state ceased to exist, as Slovakia proclaimed its independence and Carpathian Ruthenia became part of Hungary , while the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was proclaimed in the remainder of the Czech Lands . In 1939, after the outbreak of World War II , former Czechoslovak President Edvard Beneš formed a government-in-exile and sought recognition from the Allies . After World War II, Czechoslovakia
6808-455: The students. Once all the protesters dispersed, one of the participants, secret police agent Ludvík Zifčák, was lying on the street. Zifčák was not physically hurt or pretending to be dead; he simply fainted . Policemen carried his motionless body to an ambulance. The atmosphere of fear and hopelessness gave birth to a hoax about a dead student named Martin Šmíd . The story was made up by Drahomíra Dražská as she awaited treatment after she
6900-504: The sum is, therefore, more than 100%. During the period between the two world wars Czechoslovakia was a democratic state. The population was generally literate, and contained fewer alienated groups. The influence of these conditions was augmented by the political values of Czechoslovakia's leaders and the policies they adopted. Under Tomas Masaryk , Czech and Slovak politicians promoted progressive social and economic conditions that served to defuse discontent. Foreign minister Beneš became
6992-466: The top Communist leaders and Communist party itself resigned. On 31 December 1992, Czechoslovakia peacefully split into the two sovereign states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia . The country was of generally irregular terrain. The western area was part of the north-central European uplands. The eastern region was composed of the northern reaches of the Carpathian Mountains and lands of
7084-474: The town of Plzeň in 1953 , reflecting economic discontent. Police and army units put down the rebellion, and hundreds were injured but no one was killed. While its economy remained more advanced than those of its neighbors in Eastern Europe, Czechoslovakia grew increasingly economically weak relative to Western Europe. The currency reform of 1953 caused dissatisfaction among Czechoslovak laborers. To equalize
7176-516: The two formally equal republics. However, the centralized political control by the Czechoslovak Communist Party severely limited the effects of federalization. The 1970s saw the rise of the dissident movement in Czechoslovakia, represented among others by Václav Havel . The movement sought greater political participation and expression in the face of official disapproval, manifested in limitations on work activities, which went as far as
7268-410: The wage rate, Czechoslovaks had to turn in their old money for new at a decreased value. The banks also confiscated savings and bank deposits to control the amount of money in circulation. In the 1950s, Czechoslovakia experienced high economic growth (averaging 7% per year), which allowed for a substantial increase in wages and living standards, thus promoting the stability of the regime. In 1968, when
7360-513: Was a landlocked country in Central Europe , created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary . In 1938, after the Munich Agreement , the Sudetenland became part of Nazi Germany , while the country lost further territories to Hungary and Poland (the territories of southern Slovakia with a predominantly Hungarian population to Hungary and Zaolzie with a predominantly Polish population to Poland). Between 1939 and 1945,
7452-407: Was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia , occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations against the one-party government of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia included students and older dissidents. The result was the end of 41 years of one-party rule in Czechoslovakia , and the subsequent dismantling of the command economy and conversion to
7544-486: Was held. In response to the collapse of other Warsaw Pact governments and the increasing street protests, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia announced on 28 November that it would relinquish power and end the one-party state . Two days later, the federal parliament formally deleted the sections of the Constitution giving the Communist Party a monopoly of power. Barbed wire and other obstructions were removed from
7636-495: Was hurt during the riot. Dražská worked at the college and shared her hoax with several people the next day, including the wife of journalist Petr Uhl , a correspondent for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty . This incident mobilised the people and triggered the revolution. That same evening, students and theatre actors agreed to go on strike. Two students visited Prime Minister Ladislav Adamec at his private residence and described to him what happened on Národní Street. The strike at
7728-628: Was incorporated into Czechoslovakia. Czechoslovakia was founded in October 1918, as one of the successor states of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of World War I and as part of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye . It consisted of the present day territories of Bohemia , Moravia , parts of Silesia making up present day Czech Republic , Slovakia , and a region of present-day Ukraine called Carpathian Ruthenia . Its territory included some of
7820-467: Was killed by the police during the previous day's demonstration. Although the report was false, it heightened the feeling of crisis, and persuaded some hesitant citizens to overcome their fear and join the protests. Theatres in Bratislava , Brno , Ostrava and other towns went on strike. Members of artistic and literary associations as well as organisations and institutions joined the strike. Members of
7912-537: Was majority Polish, in October 1938. On 14 March 1939, the remainder ("rump") of Czechoslovakia was dismembered by the proclamation of the Slovak State , the next day the rest of Carpathian Ruthenia was occupied and annexed by Hungary, while the following day the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was proclaimed. The eventual goal of the German state under Nazi leadership was to eradicate Czech nationality through assimilation, deportation, and extermination of
8004-466: Was organized under the direction of Reinhard Heydrich , and the fortress town of Terezín was made into a ghetto way station for Jewish families. On 4 June 1942 Heydrich died after being wounded by an assassin in Operation Anthropoid . Heydrich's successor, Colonel General Kurt Daluege , ordered mass arrests and executions and the destruction of the villages of Lidice and Ležáky . In 1943
8096-464: Was reestablished under its pre-1938 borders, with the exception of Carpathian Ruthenia, which became part of the Ukrainian SSR (a republic of the Soviet Union ). The Communist Party seized power in a coup in 1948 . From 1948 to 1989, Czechoslovakia was part of the Eastern Bloc with a planned economy . Its economic status was formalized in membership of Comecon from 1949 and its defense status in
8188-514: Was reestablished, with the exception of Sub carpathian Ruthenia , which was annexed by the Soviet Union and incorporated into the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic . The Beneš decrees were promulgated concerning ethnic Germans (see Potsdam Agreement ) and ethnic Hungarians. Under the decrees, citizenship was abrogated for people of German and Hungarian ethnic origin who had accepted German or Hungarian citizenship during
8280-498: Was represented by Ján Budaj, Fedor Gál and Vladimír Ondruš, while the Communists were represented by Štefan Chudoba (director of Bratislava automotive company), Peter Weiss (secretary of the Institute of Marx-Leninism of the Communist party of Slovakia) and the director of Steelworks Košice . It was the first free discussion on Czechoslovak television since its inception. As a result, the editorial staff of Slovak newspapers started to join
8372-554: Was succeeded by his close ally Edvard Beneš (1884–1948). The roots of Czech nationalism go back to the 19th century, when philologists and educators, influenced by Romanticism , promoted the Czech language and pride in the Czech people . Nationalism became a mass movement in the second half of the 19th century. Taking advantage of the limited opportunities for participation in political life under Austrian rule, Czech leaders such as historian František Palacký (1798–1876) founded various patriotic, self-help organizations which provided
8464-442: Was sympathetic to the students' demands. However, he was outvoted in a special cabinet meeting the same day. The government, in an official statement, made no concessions. Civic Forum added a demand: the abolition of the "ruling position" of the Communist Party from the Constitution. Non-Communist newspapers published information that contradicted the Communist interpretation. The first mass demonstration in Prague (100,000 people) and
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